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A sprinter who, having already earned Paralympic bronze and Commonwealth Games gold, was supposedly now training for a start at Rio in 2016.

“Or so we thought,” dad Peter told The Daily Telegraph, in PyeongChang. “I remember Simon asking for a lift to Brisbane airport one morning, saying he was headed to Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport.

Camera IconSimon Patmore celebrates winning gold.Picture: AP

“But instead, after arriving, he jumped into a car and drove to Perisher or somewhere like that to start training on a snowboard. Apparently, first time down, he ended up flat on his backside.

“But six weeks later, he was off to the Netherlands for his first competition.”

And when you eventually found out?

“Well, I’d been travelling the world living vicariously through my son as runner,” he laughed. “So my first thought was ‘what are you doing boy?’.

“Throughout my career I’ve experienced every high and every low,” she said. “And this is a massive high.

“My family has never seen me ski before and it’s the first time mum’s been overseas.

“It’s a miracle that she can be here and it’s so great they’re able to see it. They’ve sacrificed so much - my parents, brothers, entire extended family, they’ve all been amazing and I’m so happy they can be here to share this.”